If you are looking for a proper UK police procedural to tuck in to this festive season - or anytime - look no further than Broken Ground, fifth in the Inspector Karen Pirie series, and written by prolific, internationally best-selling author, Val McDermid. Ms. McDermid has been called by many “the Queen of Scottish crime”, as well as “one of the best crime writers of her generation”. Her latest entry is, as they say in the UK, a corker!
Read moreMINM Book Review: The Craftsman by Sharon Bolton
Are you looking for a crime novel that is devilishly dark, brooding, and gothic, tinged with horror and more than a little of the supernatural, with an antagonist who employs a most ghoulish method of dispatching victims? Then curl up in your favorite reading chair with your preferred, piping hot “cuppa”, and dig into this deeply personal story by British author, Sharon Bolton. The Craftsman screams out to be read in front of a crackling fire, or during an electrical storm, with lightning flashes periodically illuminating the windows! Ms. Bolton’s latest, hauntingly atmospheric offering, the first in a new trilogy, is tailor-made for the Halloween season!
Read moreMINM Review: This Dark Place by Claire Kittridge
Compelling and suspenseful, with a wonderful hook, This Dark Place is the very strong debut of American crime novelist Claire Kittridge and independent publisher, Delicate Prey. Fans of Angela Marsons and Robert Bryndza need to put this author on their must read lists, stat!
As a lover of both UK crime fiction and New York City (a visit to the UK is on my bucket list), imagine my delight to learn of the inspired premise of This Dark Place: in short, the wealthy and connected father of a New Yorker who had been studying in London, hires a tough, female, New York homicide detective to travel to London, and to work with the London Metropolitan Police to investigate his daughter's death. What follows is a confidently-written, "chilling British thriller with an American twist".
Read moreMINM Review: Dying Truth by Angela Marsons
Building to a breath-holding, heart-pounding, race-against-time climax, Dying Truth is installment eight of the Detective Inspector Kim Stone crime thriller series, written by Angela Marsons. Dying Truth opens with an action-packed prologue that foreshadows its denouement. The remainder of the novel counts down toward its life-or-death-hanging-in-the-balance-finish!
Read moreMINM Review: You Can Run by Steve Mosby
An altogether satisfying British police procedural, You Can Run is suspenseful, tense, poignant, and very cleverly plotted. Steve Mosby has, once again, shown himself to be a terrific storyteller.
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